Keep a fixed point of view. What does your character see, hear, know, think? Ideally, keep your frame to one point of view per section, one point in time. That means lots of time spent with your subjects, to begin to see the world the way they do, and debriefing them after an event or [...]

Neil’s take:
You want people to be forgoing sleep to reach the end of your story, to see how the mystery is solved, learn how things turned out, discover the answer to the big question. A great ending has a great payoff embedded in it — even if it’s presented subtly. Go back to the question [...]

Know your chronology cold. Even if you ultimately decide not to tell your story in chronological order, you’ve got to understand it. Respect the natural sequence. Know who knew what when. Don’t impart your subject with knowledge he/she didn’t have at the point you’re writing about. Understand how events fit into the overall arc.

Neil said he once was at a conference where someone asked Tom French what book he’d read to learn how to write narrative well. This is what he said.

Neil:
Introduce them slowly, one at a time, taking time to flesh them out. Look for a telling detail that will make them three-dimensional and memorable. Nicknames are great. There can only be a couple main characters, and one of them should be present in almost all of your scenes. There can be many more secondary [...]

We’re using Gay Talese’s nonpareil profile as the spine in Neil’s talk on long-form narrative. Not that you ever need a specific reason to re-read but here it is:
Frank Sinatra, holding a glass of bourbon in one hand and a cigarette in the other, stood in a dark corner of the bar between two attractive [...]

Topics are the stuff of Wikipedia entries. Stories pose — and, over the course of the narrative, answer — a central, provocative, compelling question.

Neil: “Thirty years ago, the spotlight of the nation was on Charlestown High School, as an epic struggle about race and class and fairness unfolded. For me, the lives at the center of this book prove how much more fascinating — and real — the story can become when everyone else has stopped paying attention.”

Kind of quiet here at the workshop this morning. Folks are working on their stories. On the agenda later: Ben is talking about narrative on deadline around noonish and Neil is talking about long-form narrative later in the afternoon. Dinner’s at 7, with cocktails hors d’oeuvre, open bar, whatnot.